Never Thought I'd...

Let me begin by saying WOW!

Every Friday we have a field trip and this week we went to Zagorohoria and traditional villages. We some some amazing and a monastery over a huge gorge. We decided to go hike out on a small pathway up on the cliff, and it was unreal. It was one of the coolest things I have every done. In one week I worked on my fear of enclosed spaces underground in the Cave of Perama, and then hiked on on a huge cliff to conquer my fear of heights. The photos we took don't do the place justice, but our professor might have had a mild heart attack while we were doing it. When we came back he told us that he "shit his pants three times while you guys were out there."

On a different note, on thing that is getting really old, really fast is being so clearly American. It's hard to look Greek because the women wear a pound of make up and high heels all the time. I'm not trying to look like a clown that can't walk just to fit in. Not to say all Greek women look like clowns, because they don't, but the distinction is that even naturally pretty women who don't need to wear make up are always decked out. 95% of the women dye their hair, and about 99% wear make up, and 75% wear clothes that look like they're on their way to the club. I'm a more casual person an I prefer Jean, a t-shirt, and my trail running shoes/Sorel slippers to just about anything else. Needless to say, getting use to the clothes has been somewhat challenging for me.

Today we went out for some food and wore our clothes that we had on while we were hiking earlier in the day. It was about 70 degrees so we had on shorts and t-shirts and went strait from the hike to get food downtown. It was shocking how much we got stared out. Exercise is extremely uncommon in Greece, especially for women, so we looked so obviously out of place that is was uncomfortable. I don't mind wearing my work out clothes, but all 6 of us were getting stared at like nobodies business. It's so different from the US were people don't really notice that kind of stuff, or care because there are so many different types and styles of clothing and ways to dress that are socially acceptable. The fact that dying your hear and wearing make up is almost an obligation here is so strange to me, and just about everyone else.

Anyway, time to get back to my homework.

Signing off,

T

What to say about Greece?

Well we are starting to get use to being here, but there is no doubt about it, Greece is like a whole different world. Stray dogs are EVERYWHERE. It's really hard to watch. They fight, get hit by cars, and are essentially neglected in every sense. They don't get neutered, and they have all sorts of skin infections, and one has a huge open wound on his head that looks like a tumor but is most likely from a fight. They keep us awake at night with their cries and fights. It's one of the harder things about being here. Also, if you've never been to Greece, you would probably shocked to know that their septic systems are completely different. You absolutely do not flush toilet paper down the toilet. You throw it away in a bin next to the toilet. It's really hard to get use to, and pretty much anyone's immediate reaction is disgust, but who are we the judge? One thing that is especially challenging for me is the lack of efficiency in any sector of the country. Going to the supermarket takes FOREVER. The cashiers take their sweet ass time ringing things up, and have to go to an entirely different place to use credit cards which takes about 5 minutes to go through the system. The other day Katlynn and I were getting groceries and a kitten was hiding under some of the coke boxes by us. It was really scared, and I tried to get it to calm down but it just ran away. The super market is utter chaos.

The government is entirely different here. 1/10 or 11 people were for the government sector, and people constantly complain about the government but there is no personal involvement. It is easy to see when you talk to anyone about the economic situation because they complain about how little money they have because of government spending, but continue to eat out and buy fancy clothes and accessories. Personal responsibility is almost completely absent. It's really shocking to contrast Greek involvement (which is literally 0) with American involvement in government. We learned about that more in class today, which was really interesting.

I really can't say enough how lucky I am to have this opportunity. Greece in all respects really isn't that different from the US. They sell milk, have super markets, toilets flush. I'm not roughing it out in a village in Africa. But even so, it is an eye opening experience living here. It makes me appreciate so much living in America, and I am so grateful to be born into my family. I am amazed still by how generous the people are here. A guy struck up a conversation with a group of us on the bus, and he turned out to be 19 and a student at our university. He was originally from Athens and came to school in Ioannina. He got off at our stop to show us around just out of the goodness of his heart. He went completely out of his way to show us some really cool bars in a place we probably never would have looked. It is experiences like this that really make us feel welcome here. Well we have a trip tomorrow and so I'm off to bed,

Yiassou friends!

Tina

Ioannina

It's been hard to post since we have been so busy, but here is a quick summary of what we have been doing. While we were in Athens, we spent about 18 hours a day eating, laughing, and spending time with Katlynn's family. It was such an unforgettable experience. We got gifts of jewelry and on of Katlynn's cousins gave us WONDERFUL haircuts so we could take something with us to remember her. I don't think they understand that we couldn't forget them and what they've given us. We got to go to the Acropolis museum, buy some gifts for friends, but mostly we just went with the flow. Wednesday we said goodbye and with heavy hearts went to our hotel to meet up with our group. We hung out and got some food then went to bed. The next morning we had to be at the bus station at 7:30 and managed to be the most haggard of the group, so I slept on the 6 hour bus ride. I have held my promise that when tired, I can sleep anywhere. I think Katlynn is starting to become concerned about my sleeping habits.

When we arrived in Ioannina it was like a ghost town. Half of the people started calling it Pullman, which was sad, because I really didn't want to come to Europe to stay in a Pullman like town. But then today we ventured out and it was AMAZING. The like is beautiful, there is so much shopping and fun stuff to do and our group is awesome. We walked about 4 miles, which kind of sucked since no one wore the right shoes, but we laughed and bonded the whole way. This experience is getting better and better by the day and I know when the time comes to leave we are all going to have a hard time saying goodbye. Off to take a shower, yeia sas!

T

Athens

Katlynn and I finished up Paris with a bang. It wasn't so great when we first got there but by the end it was fantastic. I ate so many crepes and ham and cheese sandwiches I didn't know what to do with myself. We met an awesome Canadian girl named Barbara who we shared a room with and eventually a hotel with. We went to the catacombs, sacre coeur, and lots and lots of shopping. I honestly don't know what we would have done without Tess. She was a lifesaver. When we were done with Paris, we carried our huge bags down another flight of stairs and departed from Charles de Gaulle. When we arrived in Athens, our flight was late and my bag was practically last getting off of the plane. We were met my Katlynn's second cousin Paul and his dad Lakie, which I'm not sure how to spell in english. They are a some of the few who can speak english with us. We got to go out to a bar our first night which was awesome, and really puts american bars to shame. After eating some popcorn and drinking a few beers we came back and crashed. The next day (saturday) Paul took us to get our cell phones and we got some coffee at a nice place on the beach. We got to go back to his parents house to meet Peggy (his sister) and Sophie (his mom) who is actually from Canada and moved to Greece and met Peggy and Pauls father there. We had so much fun talking with Sophie for hours and stayed at there house until about 3 am for the midnight service for Easter.

There really isn't much I can say to describe how awesome easter was. We stood outside the church with candles and at midnight fireworks go off, bells ring, and everyone kisses and says in Greek "christ has risen" to which you respond "he truly has risen." We came back and ate food and talked until early in the morning. Then we went home and slept for a few hours to wake up to head out to the families house in a village my Patra.

On Easter day we got to walk on the beach, eat, laugh, and do some card tricks. It was so much fun. Katlynn's family have been so welcoming, and most of them speak to us in Greek which we try to understand. Our knowledge of Greek and ability to speak has definantly improved, and I think it is going to be really hard to leave here to go to Ioannina. I have no relation to any of these people but they treat me as though they have known me for years. I am so happy to have been able to have this experience, and I hope that the rest of our trip in Greece is as wonderful as this portion has been.